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Why Should California Obey Federal National ID Demands?

If California were to decline to follow federal driver licensing mandates, would the Transportation Security Administration turn Californians away at our nation’s airports, preventing more than 10% of the nation’s population from flying? Of course not. The outrage would be palpable, and it would be directed at the federal government’s most unpopular agency, TSA.

But the incredibly low risk of federal punishment is apparently what spurred the California legislature to pass A.B. 1465, which now sits on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. If signed, the bill would move California another step closer to compliance with the REAL ID Act, increasing the burden on California driver’s license applicants just a little more, so that TSA will continue to defer enforcement of the national ID law as to California.

But TSA hasn’t enforced REAL ID for any state since the statutory compliance deadline in 2008. (It’s ongoing mass deferment is disguised by crediting some states with satisfying a “material compliance checklist.” Find a history in our report, REAL ID: A State-by-State Update.) The reason why is not kindness on the part of the feds or good faith progress on the part of states. It’s the fact that the federal government does not have the power to demand compliance from states. State leaders would not be blamed if TSA denied people’s IDs at the airports. TSA would be.

There is no need for California to spend a dime on REAL ID compliance, but the most recent analysis of A.B. 1465 says the California DMV would incur costs of approximately $5.56 million in 2016-17 and $5.4 million each year after that. The legislator most responsible for delay and expense at the DMV is Assemblymember Rich Gordon (D-Menlo Park).

The spending is absolutely unnecessary. The federal government will always back down. There is no reason California should obey federal national ID demands.